Category: Northern California

Bipartisan Request Approved to Audit Homeless Spending in California

California’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved a bipartisan audit request made by several state lawmakers last month to examine the state’s homelessness funding for the City of San Jose, one other city of the auditor’s choosing, as well as the “state’s structure and efforts for funding and addressing homelessness.” The audit will determine whether funds…


More Than 250,000 People Have Left the San Francisco Bay Area Since the Pandemic

The population in Northern California is on the decline, according to data released March 31 by the U.S. Census Bureau, with more than 250,000 people—approximately half the population of Wyoming—fleeing the San Francisco Bay Area since 2020. Santa Clara County experienced the most migration, with about 80,000 choosing to leave, but more births than deaths…


California’s 2021 Annual Financial Report is Finally Here

Commentary The state of California has finally released its latest Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the year ending June 2021, months after the previous State Controller left the building. This is supposed to be issued within 180 days, not 21 months. We can assume that the June 2022 report will be available a year…


Organization Leaders Criticize California Bill Seeking to Legalize Certain Psychedelic Drugs

Community members denounced California Senate Bill 58, which seeks to legalize psychedelic drugs, in a virtual press conference on March 28. Opponents said this bill is “the pivotal first step to legalize all drugs.” This bill would allow people age 21 or older to possess and transfer certain amounts of psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin, psilocyn,…


Gov. Newsom Neglects State for Presidential ‘Democracy’ Tour

Commentary Do you think COVID-19 is bad? Far worse is Oval Office Fever. And Gov. Gavin Newsom has a bad case of it. That explains his national Campaign for Democracy tour—even as the state he governs continues to deteriorate. It’s paid for by a new Political Action Committee (PAC) using funds he didn’t spend on…


Cash App Founder Stabbed to Death in San Francisco

Bob Lee, the creator of the mobile payment service Cash App and the former chief technology officer of Square, has been stabbed to death in San Francisco. The 43-year-old tech executive was found by officers in the early hours of April 4, after suffering multiple stab wounds. The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) said there had…


California AG: 54 Ghost Guns Seized in Unique State Program

LOS ANGELES—California law enforcement took away 54 so-called ghost guns last year from people who can’t legally own firearms, a 38 percent jump in the number of the hard-to-trace weapons seized since 2021 under a unique state program, officials said Monday. The ghost guns, which are privately made firearms without a serial number, were part…


California Bill Requiring Dyslexia Screening for Young Children Advances in Senate Committee

A California Senate bill that would require schools to screen young children for dyslexia passed the state Senate Education Committee last week. The committee unanimously voted to pass state Senate Bill 691 during a March 29 hearing and sent it to the Senate Appropriations Committee for a vote on April 10. The bill would require…


Californians Take on Larger Auto Loans Since Pandemic: Report

Californians have taken on bigger car loans at an alarming pace since the pandemic and more people are falling behind on their payments, according to a new study released by the University of California–Berkeley’s California Policy Lab. “The escalation in auto loans was steady through the 2010s, but when the pandemic began in 2020, it…


No One Is Banning Books in Your School Library

Commentary While reading the California Education Code the other day, I made a stunning discovery. School districts are allowed to burn books. Is California that far ahead on the road to totalitarianism? Though it seems like we’re living in Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” where school districts can technically burn books, the reason for the law…